Factory Ducati rider Jack Miller has once again kicked off at MotoGP’s race direction and the stewards panel after Sunday’s Dutch TT, after he was forced to abandon his race.
Faced with a black-and-orange flag – which communicates that a competitor’s vehicle is too damaged to continue the event in its current state – Miller was denied the chance to score points after what he felt was a relatively innocuous crash at the midway point of the 27-lap race.
The crash, Miller was quick to admit, was entirely one of his own making, as he made a rather basic error and falling out of the fight for the top eight on lap 14. Going down at the Strubben left-hander, he was quick to hold his hands up afterwards and take responsibility for the error.
“I felt good, and I was in my rhythm and was staying kinda central in the race with Miguel [Oliveira] as the front group started to come back towards us,” he explained.
“[Joan] Mir made one of his passes at Turn 5, making contact with Taka [Nakagami], and I braked a little earlier so that if there was contact and someone happened to fall off I could pick my way through.
“I released the brakes a little bit earlier, not going any harder but just not trail braking right to the apex, and obviously didn’t have enough load on the front tyre so I just fell over.
“It was a really s**t nothing crash, but it cost us dearly, and I’m pissed off at myself for that sort of mistake.”
Disastrous lap for @ducaticorse! 😲@PeccoBagnaia serves a Long Lap Penalty for exceeding track limits, moments before a crash for @jackmilleraus! ❌#DutchGP 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/N3GoMm9NQL
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 27, 2021
However, no stranger to voicing honest opinions about the state of MotoGP stewarding lately, the Australian says that the subsequent decision to put out the black-and-orange flag for him was a mistake by the stewards.
“It was a nothing first-gear crash and my handlebars weren’t even bent,” continued the frustrated Miller.
“I picked the bike up again and got going again, but we have a system on the bike in case it’s on its side. You’ve got an overflow because when the bike is tipped over, there’s more oil in a certain part of the engine. When that fills up, it dumps a little bit of oil into the exhaust to basically burn it off.
“They said they saw smoke coming out of the exhaust so they meatball-flagged me. Let’s just say they didn’t really have a reason for it, so they had to call us in afterwards to cover their arses a little bit.
“It was nothing, I did what I could, I looked at the bike and I saw that it was fine. As soon as you see that you check that there’s no oil pissing out or anything, but there wasn’t.”
Ultimately, Miller was unlikely to score even if he had continued, as he was running around eight seconds down on the eventual 16th-place finisher, Lorenzo Savadori, after his crash.
